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This is news to me, Wedge, thanks for passing it on, even sadly. This is kinds weird but when I was John Ellis’ manager, and John was playing with Charlie Hunter, Richard Scheinin wrote in the Merc, about a show at Kuumbwa, that John was like a cross between Sam Rivers and Gene Ammons and I recall calling John with the kind words but also admitting to myself that I didn’t actually know what that meant, which sent me on a deliberate study that I call “1,001 Saxophone Knights” in which I keep a notebook, based on cross-referencing All Music, Rough Guide and one other main source, all the people listed on sax and their dates of birth, then, sadly, I update the book when someone leaves the stage.

more normally would have been a study of the 20 or so key players and performances in jazz sax; I have stumped some players and or confused them when I tell them they are in my book “between ___ and ___” — some of the names especially in the British books, or of the early days, are not known to today’s players and not all that relevant.